Virtual trip full of in-depth learning

5 Nov 2018 09:00 am
| NZ Transport Agency

Secondary students who appeared in a virtual field trip talk about investigating our transport system. (+ videos)

Lego stop-motion, dry wit and time-travel gave the student-made video Hayden’s Big Adventure a genuine charm. Now, those same students have revisited its themes while appearing in a virtual field trip for New Zealand schools.

The virtual field trip run by LEARNZ was Share the Road - design thinking and a safer transport system for everyone. First stop: Putaruru College, where the students recounted their video project and were reunited with police sergeant Murray Hamilton who featured in their original video.

Speaking after the virtual field trip, the Year 10 students say it was good to have a second chance to explore the topics of future transport and road safety. Hayden's Big Adventure built on their investigation of self-driving vehicles and was a winner in the Future Transport Competition run by the NZ Transport Agency.

“It was pretty interesting to go to the topic a second time, I learned a couple of new things here and there, like how the police keep track of speed and other road rules,” says Ethan.

During the LEARNZ virtual field trip, the student team talk with Sergeant Hamilton about ways that school students could investigate local streets. They also learn how police officers use a speed radar.

“You hold it up to the eye and track their number plate and it shows you how fast they’re going. It’s kind of scary thinking that trucks and cars are going that fast around a school zone,” says Anthony.

“The experience was helpful because it shows us that there is a real-world problem around us that we need to solve and get people to help us. It’s like a community project.”

Classmate Eden says more needs to be done in their town.

“We need signs that show that a school is around because a lot of people passing through don’t know there’s a school there.”

Extended learning

Teacher Lanny Joe says combining a relevant context with video production skills has led his students to in-depth research and conversations.

“They’re taking ownership of it and doing inquiry learning, through making videos about topics that they only know the basics about when they first begin.”

Asked how schools could extend inquiry learning, Anthony says teachers could give students the ability to fully research topics for themselves. Eden argues for more choice.

“Having more choice about what we’re learning about because, a lot of the things we are doing are about the past and we want to think about the future more.”

Anthony says having real-world issues to investigate makes their learning more meaningful.

“It’s really good for everyone to be able to participate and work together with helping the community or to educate the community about a certain topic.”